Wellness in the Family Business

1993 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Stier

This article addresses the unique opportunity that family business owners have to create worksite environments that promote wellness in employees while increasing productivity. By giving physical and psychological well-being the same importance as economic well-being, the company benefits through healthier employees, reduction of absenteeism, lower insurance costs, and increased productivity and worker satisfaction.

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Littunen ◽  
Kimmo Hyrsky

This study examined factors influencing the survival and success of 200 Finnish family and nonfamily firms in the metal-based manufacturing industry and business services over the first three years of their operation. The features that this study reviewed include owner-manager personality attributes, entrepreneurial competence, and motives for the start-up. Strategic choices of the firms were also examined. The study found that family firms were better equipped to survive beyond the early entrepreneurial stage than were nonfamily businesses. The entrepreneurial abilities and resources of the family business owners enabled them to operate relatively successfully in the nearby market, often with one unique product. The family firms were more conscious of survival and family well-being than profitability or market position. A higher mortality rate was discovered among the nonfamily firms. Failed firms were often established with unrealistic expectations, and their performance deteriorated rapidly after their early success.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Binz Astrachan ◽  
Isabel C. Botero

Purpose Evidence suggests that some stakeholders perceive family firms as more trustworthy, responsible, and customer-oriented than public companies. To capitalize on these positive perceptions, owning families can use references about their family nature in their organizational branding and marketing efforts. However, not all family firms actively communicate their family business brand. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to investigate why family firms decide to promote their “family business brand” in their communication efforts toward different stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach Data for this study were collected using an in-depth interview approach from 11 Swiss and German family business owners. Interviews were transcribed and coded to identify different themes that help explain the different motives and constraints that drive their decisions to promote the “family business brand.” Findings The analyses indicate that promoting family associations in branding efforts is driven by both identity-related (i.e. pride, identification) and outcome-related (e.g. reputational advantages) motives. However, there are several constraints that may negatively affect the promotion of the family business brand in corporate communication efforts. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to explore why family businesses decide to communicate their “family business brand.” Building on the findings, the authors present a conceptual framework identifying the antecedents and possible consequences of promoting a family firm brand. This framework can help researchers and practitioners better understand how the family business nature of the brand can influence decisions about the company’s branding and marketing practices.


Author(s):  
Katharina Harsch ◽  
Marion Festing

Family businesses dominate the corporate world but there is much we don’t know about them. Managing non-family talent is one under-researched area which we explore here, using a context-specific analysis on multiple levels, including qualitative data from interviews with family business owners and non-family talents in strategic family business positions in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. Based on stewardship theory and our empirical results, we suggest a framework that explains the particular facets of talent management in this context, characterised by the emotional attachment of the family and involvement in the business. Our findings show that primarily the values and attitudes of families shape the specific family business talent management approach, which is embedded in the particularities of the family business culture at the meso level and in region-specific macro-level factors.


2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTOINE MARCHINI

This article provides a detailed analysis of the income and expenditure of a stem family household from Bastelica, Corsica, based on information collected in 1867 and 1887 according to the scheme recommended by Frédéric Le Play. The budget indicates the work undertaken by each member of the family and which economic activities were most valuable to the family in terms of the income they generated and the level of profit. The primary resource of the family was its members, as the family used almost no non-family labour. The composition of the household, and the distribution of its members in terms of age and sex, were therefore critical for its economic well-being. Members of the family contributed their labour according to their sex, age and place within the household. Males were better paid than females but each son received more than his father and the daughters were better paid than their mother. Apart from the father, the less well paid the family member, the longer the time they were at work. In addition, the two highly paid sons were unemployed for more than half of the year. This provided a reserve of labour in the event of a rise in the ratio of consumers to workers within the family. The economy of the family was based on the exploitation of its patrimony and on animal husbandry. Food constituted the largest single item of expenditure but the diet of this family did not provide the 2,800 calories of the average diet in France between 1855 and 1874.


2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 35-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Venter ◽  
S. M. Farrington

Given the need for a different approach to leadership, as well as the need for further investigation on leadership among family businesses, this study investigates several value-laden leadership styles among family businesses. More specifically the primary objective is to establish the levels of Servant, Ethical, Authentic, and Participative leadership displayed by family business owners and the influence thereof on the Perceived business performance of the family business. A survey was undertaken and 266 usable questionnaires were returned from 133 family business owners and 133 from family business employees. The data analysis involved calculating descriptive statistics and undertaking t-tests. Multiple regression analysis (MRA) was done to test the hypothesised relationships. Although the MRA analysis revealed no statistically significant relationships between the leadership styles investigated and Perceived business performance, the vast majority of respondents agreed that the styles investigated were displayed by the family business owners. For both sample groups Ethical leadership returned the highest mean score, followed by Servant and Participative leadership. The importance of these value-laden leadership styles to family businesses is thus highlighted, contradicting the literature that family businesses owners are often autocratic in their leadership style. In addition, increased clarity on the effectiveness of these value-laden leadership styles within the context of family business is provided.


1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn A. Hurcom ◽  
Alex Copello ◽  
Jim Orford

The study was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 29 women with a recent experience of coping with excessive drinking in a male partner. A number of cognitive and environmental factors were studied to determine the extent to which they predicted coping style and psychological well-being in this group. Results of multiple regression analysis indicated that “engaged” coping (characterized by attempts to change the drinker) was best predicted by a single cognitive variable (self-demands). In contrast, “tolerant” coping was best predicted by a combination of participant’s beliefs about their ability to withdraw from the drinker and the degree of drink-related hardship experienced within the family. “Withdrawal” coping, characterized by avoidant and independent behaviours by the women, was best predicted by a combination of beliefs about the necessity of withdrawal and the duration of time the participants had been coping with the excessive drinking. Finally, psychological well-being was best predicted by a single environmental variable (the degree of hardship caused by the drinking). A number of significant correlations were found to exist between the predictor and criterion variables and are discussed. Limitations of the study and clinical implications of the findings are examined.


Author(s):  
Rachel E. Dunifon ◽  
Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest ◽  
Kimberly Kopko

U.S. children today have increasingly diverse living arrangements. In 2012, 10 percent of children lived with at least one grandparent; 8 percent lived in three-generational households, consisting of a parent and a grandparent; while 2 percent lived with a grandparent and no parent in the household. This article reviews the literature on grandparent coresidence and presents new research on children coresiding with grandparents in modern families. Findings suggest that grandparent coresidence is quite common and that its prevalence increased during the Great Recession. Additionally, these living arrangements are diverse themselves, varying by the marital status of the parent, the home in which the family lives, and the economic well-being of the family. Suggestions for future research are also proposed.


1999 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Davis ◽  
Paula D. Harveston

This paper examines the extent to which conflict across generations of family firms is due to the effects of two independent variables—generation and generational shadow. The presence of a generational shadow was indicated by whether either or both of the parents continued to influence the company once the next generation assumed control. Hypotheses predicted nonlinear trends in conflict and interactions between generation and generational shadow. Using data from a national telephone survey of over 1,000 family business owners, the results of an ANOVA test confirmed that the presence of generational shadow, in particular, that of the founder, increases organizational conflict.


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